Musings about Faith

This year for a series of sermons for Advent I have decided to take the suggestion of Dr. Barbara Lundblad and focus on the images which come out of the Isaiah texts for the season in year A.  Her suggestion is offered in this article found on the Working Preacher website: Barbara Lundblad - Isaiah 2 To read the Isaiah 2 text click here:  Isaiah 2:1-5 Images of the Kingdom: The Plow Last weekend we celebrated the Feast of Christ the King on the last Sunday of our church year and this week for the 1 st Sunday in the new church year we focus on the Kingdom of God over which Christ is King.   Understanding the Kingdom of God often leads to as much confusion as understanding what it means that Christ is King.   Last week we talked about how Jesus upsets our usual understandings of Kingship – instead of a golden crown, Jesus wears a crown of thorns; instead of a magnificent throne, Jesus is enthroned on a cross; instead of beautiful rob...

Read the text here: Luke 23:33-43 “The Hollow Crown” The title of this sermon is taken from a line from Shakespeare’s Richard II.   If there was ever a writer who explored the nature of kingship it was certainly William Shakespeare.   But these plays, and the history upon which they are based, are not exclusively stories of glory and celebration.   They are in fact mostly dark and difficult stories about the abuse of power and the very human limitations of the individual kings (and queens) themselves.   They are stories about the lust for power; that is, the overwhelming desire to be king, no matter what.   In many respects the stories of the kings and queens in history are like a mirror, for if we look at them carefully we can see ourselves reflected back.   For like the famous kings and queens of old, we too want to be the sovereign of our lives and we will jealously hold on to this power and entitlement no matter what. What are some of t...

Read the text here: Luke 21:1-4 Fragmentation Do you feel fragmented?   Do you feel as though the different parts of your life stand apart from each other and do not relate?   This is a common experience for many of us.   Our lives are fragmented and divided, and we are the ones who have done the dividing up?   So then this question comes back at us - How is your life divided?   What are the different parts and how do you manage them?   Also, how much time and money, percentagewise, do you alot to these different activities and priorities?   For example, we have our work, leisure activities such as sports, concerts and restaurants, hobbies, family and probably many other categories and then we have our faith and church.   And. it is hard to balance all of that stuff, isn’t it?   At times it can begin to feel overwhelming as we begin to feel like we are split up into bits and pieces trying to hold it all together.   But this ...